Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of funding for local record centres.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Biodiversity data is essential for informed planning decisions, with Local Environmental Records Centres (LERCs) and national platforms like the National Biodiversity Network (NBN) providing key species data. However, access to, and use of, Biodiversity data is inconsistent across planning applications. LERCs vary greatly by region in terms of resources, systems, and data sharing models. In 2015, Natural England ended its Service Level Agreement with LERCs and moved to a case-by-case payment model, which has a renewed focus making sure LERC data supports HMG priorities.
LERCS are one of many sources that can provide Biodiversity data for informed planning decisions. Through the Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment (NCEA) programme, Natural England is collaborating with UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Biological Records Centre, NBN, as well the overarching Association of LERCs, to improve data flow, simplify submissions, and enhance national access. Recent system updates return more control to data providers, strengthening transparency and stewardship.
This work supports the Geospatial Commission’s Review on Mapping the Species Data Pathway (link), which calls for modernising data systems, enabling open data use, and securing long-term sustainability Mapping the Species Data Pathway - NE commissioned
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 18 March 2025 to Question 36504 on Mental Health Services: Children, how many of the 8,500 additional mental health workers will be based in Bedfordshire.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are working with NHS England to consider options to deliver this commitment alongside the refresh of the Long Term Workforce Plan.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the economic contribution of (a) zoos and (b) aquariums to the tourism sector.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The government acknowledges the significant impact that zoos and aquariums have on the Visitor Economy. Iconic and cultural attractions like Chester zoo, which was the third most visited paid attraction in England in 2023, draw in visitors from across the country and beyond, play a significant role in attracting families, supporting local tourism, and contributing to conservation efforts.
While policy responsibility for the welfare and management of animals kept by zoos and aquariums, as well as the conservation work zoos and aquariums are required to undertake, sits with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), we remain engaged on cross-cutting matters where relevant to the UK’s visitor economy. Rather than moving things between departments, we believe it is better to get departments to work together.
This includes ensuring the UK’s diverse visitor offer is promoted effectively through national tourism bodies, including VisitEngland and VisitBritain.
Similarly, aquariums such as the 14 Sea Life Centres across the UK, including prominent sites in Blackpool and Scarborough, attract thousands of visitors to rural and coastal areas each year. The Sea Life Center London alone welcomes around 1 million visitors annually and serves as a key attraction for visitors.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what (a) financial and (b) other support her Department provides to (i) zoos and (ii) aquariums.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The government acknowledges the significant impact that zoos and aquariums have on the Visitor Economy. Iconic and cultural attractions like Chester zoo, which was the third most visited paid attraction in England in 2023, draw in visitors from across the country and beyond, play a significant role in attracting families, supporting local tourism, and contributing to conservation efforts.
While policy responsibility for the welfare and management of animals kept by zoos and aquariums, as well as the conservation work zoos and aquariums are required to undertake, sits with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), we remain engaged on cross-cutting matters where relevant to the UK’s visitor economy. Rather than moving things between departments, we believe it is better to get departments to work together.
This includes ensuring the UK’s diverse visitor offer is promoted effectively through national tourism bodies, including VisitEngland and VisitBritain.
Similarly, aquariums such as the 14 Sea Life Centres across the UK, including prominent sites in Blackpool and Scarborough, attract thousands of visitors to rural and coastal areas each year. The Sea Life Center London alone welcomes around 1 million visitors annually and serves as a key attraction for visitors.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of her Department taking responsibility for (a) zoos and (b) aquariums.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The government acknowledges the significant impact that zoos and aquariums have on the Visitor Economy. Iconic and cultural attractions like Chester zoo, which was the third most visited paid attraction in England in 2023, draw in visitors from across the country and beyond, play a significant role in attracting families, supporting local tourism, and contributing to conservation efforts.
While policy responsibility for the welfare and management of animals kept by zoos and aquariums, as well as the conservation work zoos and aquariums are required to undertake, sits with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), we remain engaged on cross-cutting matters where relevant to the UK’s visitor economy. Rather than moving things between departments, we believe it is better to get departments to work together.
This includes ensuring the UK’s diverse visitor offer is promoted effectively through national tourism bodies, including VisitEngland and VisitBritain.
Similarly, aquariums such as the 14 Sea Life Centres across the UK, including prominent sites in Blackpool and Scarborough, attract thousands of visitors to rural and coastal areas each year. The Sea Life Center London alone welcomes around 1 million visitors annually and serves as a key attraction for visitors.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 13 February 2025 to Question 29188 on Agriculture and Business: Inheritance Tax, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of reviewing her Department's data collection methods to enable the collection of data on the number of estates containing woodlands impacted in the 2026-27 financial year.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC guidance sets out that woodland is only agricultural property, and therefore qualifies for agricultural property relief, if it is occupied with, and that occupation is ancillary to, agricultural land or pasture. It will include woodland shelter belts, game coverts, fox coverts, coppices grown for fencing materials and clumps of amenity trees or spinneys. Woodlands occupied for purposes that are not agricultural, such as amenity woodland or woodland used for the production of commercial timber, are not agricultural property. However, they may be eligible for woodlands relief or business property relief.
Executors must include the value of any timber and woodland owned by the deceased that is not part of a farm in box 69 of the IHT400 form, alongside the value of the deceased’s other interests in any business or partnership (which may or may not be related to woodlands). Some farms may also include coppices, small woods and belts of trees that shelter the land, and the value of these should be included in the value of any farm, farmhouses and farmland owned by the deceased in box 68 of the IHT400 form.
However, as stated in our answer to UIN 29188, while estates include supporting documentation about the type of assets on which they claim agricultural and business property reliefs when submitting their claims, only the value of eligible assets is digitally captured in a format available for further analysis. It is also combined with the value of other assets in the boxes mentioned above, and these may or may not be related to woodlands. As such, any further level of detail is not readily available from historic claims to estimate how many future estates might contain woodland. It would be disproportionately costly for HMRC to manually review historic claims to digitally capture this information.
As detailed in my recent letter to the Chair of the Northern Ireland Select Committee, Inheritance Tax is currently operated by HMRC using a predominantly paper-based system. As part of my work to modernise HMRC, we plan to move to a digital system.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 13 March 2025 to Question 35853 on Govia Thameslink Railway: Fares, if she will make an estimate of the first year in which rail fares will go down under Great British Railways.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We are committed to the biggest overhaul of our railways in a generation, delivering a range of improvements, from more reliable services to simpler ticketing. Through public ownership and the transition to Great British Railways, it is also our ambition to deliver a more affordable railway. Post-pandemic, the amount of taxpayer subsidy provided to the railway industry has increased from under a quarter in 2018/19 to over half of total income in 2022/23. A proportionate, annual increase in fares is necessary to support crucial investment and to ensure the long-term financial sustainability of the railway.
Our goal is to keep the price of rail travel at a point that works for both passengers and taxpayers, where possible, while ensuring the long-term financial sustainability of the railway.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to his Department's press release entitled Water investment to unlock growth in East of England, published on 13 March 2025, if he will make an assessment of the potential effect of a Bedford to Milton Keynes waterway on (a) local and (b) national economic growth.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government recognises the wide range of benefits brought by our inland waterways and is supportive in general of projects to restore and develop them, including where they form part of wider growth plans.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's publication entitled Employer National Insurance Contributions Grant – Explanatory Note, published on 3 February 2025, which councils were invited to submit their estimates of 2023-24 expenditure.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
When determining allocations for the 2024-25 Employer National Insurance Contributions grant, government lacked the relevant, published Revenue Outturn (RO) data for a small number of councils, and we have therefore used councils’ self-submitted expenditure data for 2023-24 where there were gaps. The relevant list of councils with published RO data for 2023-24 is available here.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an estimate of the number of (a) parish, (b) town and (c) community councils which will pay additional employers’ National Insurance in 2025-26.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government recognises the important role town and parish councils have in improving the quality of life and wellbeing of their communities but has no direct role in funding parish and town councils, and therefore has not provided compensation, consistent with the approach taken by the previous government.
We recognise that the increase in the rate of employers’ National Insurance Contributions (NICs) will lead to increased costs for some parish councils, which may require them to increase their precept. We recognise that decisions to increase precepts are not taken lightly by parish councils.